I'm glad this was chose for our Vintage Book Circle pick of the month. I was lucky to find my copy buried on the shelves of my books for children. It prompted me to reorganize my shelves to get better access to these wonderful old titles. Some great adventures in this one. ( )

So this is a direct sequel to 'Five Children and It', so if you havn't read that, this might seem a bit odd in places.
I think i rated both books the same, this is superior in places but has a harder time trying to find reasons for things to happen and struggles to avoid repeating itself.
There's some jokes which might appeal to adults rather than kids in places so not a terrible thing if your reading it to someone.
Overall not a huge fan but entertaining enough. I listened to some of it on a very good Libravox recording by a Helen Taylor. ( )

Nesbit does a delightful job creating a modern-esque fairy tale. ( )

This is the sequel to Nesbit's Five Children and It that I read last month. I remembered this affectionately from a TV adaptation in the 1970s, but I must admit I didn't find this quite as engaging as its predecessor. Again, the story relies on them getting the wishes they choose wrong and ending up in various scrapes, but somehow these did not engage as much in this one. Perhaps this was partly due to there being no illustrations in my edition, which added to my enjoyment of the first novel, and of The Railway Children. All that said, still a good children's story that a reader of any age can enjoy. ( )

Cyril, Robert, Anthea, and Jane are rather hard on their belongings. When their old nursery carpet is destroyed in an accident with some fireworks, their mother replaces it with a bargain carpet from a salesman. When that carpet arrives, it is rolled around an egg with a most extraordinary appearance — and when that egg accidentally falls into the fire, a new set of adventures begins.

I always enjoy Nesbit’s books. Such good characters, and such fantastical plots! This book is actually the sequel to Five Children and It, but it’s not necessary to have read that book (I hadn’t, and I was able to follow along just fine). I’m a little sad that I never read these books as a child, because I know I would have enjoyed them! ( )